Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Question and Answer with Alvin Tiamzon – the winner of the first MyView competition (2009)

Why do you think you won the first My View?
I think the greatest edge of my entry was its simplicity and straight-to-the-point message and the fact that it was infused with humor that speaks directly to its target audience - the youth.

Did anything unexpected happen after winning the first competition?
Well...first off, my business assignment in the US was cut short by a week and I had to ask my manager to allow me to fly back to Manila for the [MyView Competition] press conference!

Next, my entry was subsequently remade for broadcast purposes - that gave me a chance to work on a “big” production that I hadn’t experienced before. I also did receive an offer from a carbon-management company to make videos for them, similar to my MyView entry, but I had to refuse because I chose not to leave my job. I can’t manage to do it as part-time work either.

What have you been doing since you won the first MyView?
- Joined some video contests in the Philippines, as well as ASEAN-wide competitions.

- Founded a Film Club in the Philippines. As a founder and lead of the Film Club, I help produce internal videos and organize several activities related to filmmaking from videography to video-editing, etc.

- I met more budding filmmakers by attending the free filmmaking seminar with Brillante Mendoza at the ABS-CBN Foundation. Together with a team of five, we produced a short film related to the Pasig River. In fact, I unknowingly met the then-future MyView H2O Under 21 category winner Nash Anggahan at the seminar.

- I also help cover the 10-10-10 Pasig River Run (in Manila) with some of my fellow colleagues from the filmmaking seminar.

Any plans to work in the film industry further?
Definitely. Working in the film industry is still my dream job. I guess when I’m 30, I might consider leaving the IT corporate world completely and do something else – you never know – but I’d like to think that I’m just waiting for the right opportunity to come along before I can totally break in to an industry that is still quite unfamiliar to me. I don’t even know where to start!

Favorite films you have seen in the past year and why did you like them?
(please feel free to choose any one of these...I just can’t decide which movies are my absolute favourite in the past year so I’m putting a lot of them here)

Black Swan – I like how director Darren Aronofsky shows the gritty side of ballet and how the film managed to build up into a very satisfying climax. Not to mention the phenomenal performance of Natalie Portman.

Toy Story 3 – The incinerator scene alone is worth the price of admission. It’s been well-cited that the ending made even grown men cry but the incinerator scene caught me unprepared.

Limitless – I like well-crafted and intelligent sci-fi films and this one along with Duncan Jones’ Moon and Source Code belongs to my favourites.

The Ghost Writer – The mystery within the film that didn’t reveal itself even until the last few minutes of the film kept me hanging and I love the ambiguousness of the ending.

Never Let Me Go – I don’t know but I seem to love the depression expressed throughout the whole movie.

Hanna – I like how it defies the typical action film genre.

Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank – A spot-on and totally outrageous look on Filipino indie cinema which I hope will change how future Pinoy indie filmmakers make a movie that is not about poverty and all its dead seriousness. I do hope more films like this will be produced because people are tired of mainstream movies that are all about love teams and nonsense comedy.

Atonement – Even though I’ve seen this about three years ago...I can’t help but to put this in since this is one of the movies I absolutely adore in recent memory. Everything in this movie is top notch – from directing, costume, music, cinematography and acting – this is a rare film that surpassed my expectations and has affected me for days. Having not read the book or even not seen the trailer, I watched this movie with absolutely no expectations. In fact, being a film music aficionado, I was just curious on how composer Dario Marianelli used the typewriter in the score and also to see the acting debut of Saoirse Ronan. Never did I realize that this seemingly just another period piece turned to become one of the affecting movies I’ve seen.

Your advice to making a great MyView entry?
Keep it simple. Think about how you can best deliver a simple message that is relevant, witty and fresh enough to be interesting to the target audience. It’s also best if the message you’re trying to deliver is coming from your own experience.

About

My View is a micro documentary competition for anyone who wants to be seen and heard.
You make a 1 to 5 minute digital film all about renewable energy, we’ll get the world to watch it and you can win major cash prizes.